Following Apple's (AAPL) Special Event, investors seemed to only care about Apple TV+'s unexpectedly low price, with stocks of streaming rivals like Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS) quickly falling on potential unforeseen risks to competition, Tae Kim writes in this week's edition of Barron's. While the $4.99 a month price for Apple TV+ looks appealing, it may not be so attractive once consumers consider the number of shows the service will offer, the author contends, adding that the small lineup offered actually makes Apple TV+ look pricey compared with the competition. Reference Link

Microsoft (MSFT) and Walt Disney Studios (DIS) announced a five-year innovation partnership to pilot new ways to create, produce and distribute content on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Through The Walt Disney Studios' StudioLAB, a technology hub designed to create and advance the future of storytelling with tools and methods, the companies will deliver cloud-based solutions to help accelerate innovation at The Walt Disney Studios for production and post-production processes, or from "scene to screen." Building on Microsoft's cloud alliance with Avid, the companies have already produced several media workflows running in the cloud , including collaborative editing, content archiving, active backup and production continuity.

Despite major investments in original content, Netflix (NFLX) has started to cancel its shows faster than it ever has, the Verge's Julia Alexander reports. The company made a name for itself in originals with prestige shows such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black," with both had five or six seasons before they ended, but lately that has changed, with new programs like "The OA" and "Tuca & Bertie" getting axed right when they fail to perform, Alexander says. While such moves wouldn't be surprising at ABC (DIS) or CBS (CBS), Netflix positioned itself as a service willing to take risks on stranger shows, but now the company appears less willing to take such risks, the author says. Perhaps Netflix could afford to take greater risks in originals before, but now competitors such as Disney, AT&T's (T) WarnerMedia, Comcast's (CMCSA) NBCUniversal, and Apple (AAPL) are arriving on the streaming front with original content of their own, the author notes. Reference Link

Apple TV pricing adds pressure to Netflix and Disney, says Imperial Capital. The $4.99 monthly price of Apple's (AAPL) TV+ adds pressure to both Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS), Imperial Capital analyst David Miller tells investors in a research note. The price point took most analysts by surprise, as $4.99 is "far less" than what had been previously estimated going in to Apple's presentation, which was somewhere around the $9.00 level, according to Miller. In addition, while Apple's content lineup is not nearly as robust as that offered currently by Netflix , or what will be offered by Disney+, its lineup looked "fairly impressive," headlined by talent such as Jennifer Aniston, Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Moore, Aaron Paul, Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer, and M. Night Shyamalan, Miller contends. However, he believes the market is too focused on price points rather than the "value" for that said price point. The analyst keeps an Outperform rating on Netflix shares with a $451 price target.

Apple TV+ pricing a positive catalyst for adoption, says JPMorgan. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee came out of Apple's (AAPL) event yesterday "largely positive," believing lowered pricing of the iPhone 11 relative to the XR could act as a positive driver for volumes in the entry level premium smartphone segment. Further, the analyst says "favorable pricing" for Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade makes him positive on the potential ramp of the new services. Apple TV+'s monthly subscription price of $4.99 is "quite attractive" relative to competitive services, which should be a positive catalyst for adoption as Apple scales up its original content over time to compete with Netflix (NFLX), Amazon's (AMZN) Prime Video and Disney (DIS), among others, Chatterjee told investors earlier in a research note. He kept an Overweight rating on Apple shares.

Special event 'a positive growth catalyst' for Apple going forward, says Wedbush. Following the highly anticipated Apple (AAPL) Special Event, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives notes that the company unveiled its trifecta of new iPhones, next generation iPad and Apple Watch coupled with the pricing for Apple TV+ of $4.99 per month and the launch date of November 1. The pricing of Apple's streaming TV service at $4.99 per month is a "show stopper" and a "major shot across the bow" at the likes of Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS), among others, he contends. The analyst also notes with Apple caught in the crossfire on the U.S./China trade battle over the last six months, the company is highly anticipating this iPhone 11 slate of smartphones to stimulate demand especially in the key China region. Ives reiterates an Outperform rating and $245 price target on the shares as he views the event as a "positive growth catalyst for Cupertino going forward."

Apple TV+/hardware bundle with low price 'extremely clever,' says Bernstein. Bernstein analyst A.M. Sacconaghi, Jr. views Apple's (AAPL) decision to bundle a year of Apple TV+ with Apple hardware - and offer a low subscription price post-trial - as "extremely clever," as it will now potentially reach 200M-plus Apple customers in its first year of existence. Even if only a fraction of those customers converts to paid subscriptions after 12 months - which at only $5 per month increases the odds of conversion - Apple TV+ could accumulate tens of millions of paid subscriptions by the end of 2020 - potential making it larger than Disney+ (DIS), he contends.